Pages

Friday, April 29, 2011

Ladies, forgive me for goin AWOL on you all the last week, hubster and I spent some time away and I took a break from all things crafty for a bit to recharge my batteries :)

So to get you all back into the swing of things, I'll be posting the third card in my second card kit set today!
Personally, I just love this card, I thought I was too clever with the cuteness factor I added :)

Is that a clothes line I spy?

Hmm, pegs? Pants? Jersey? Yes! it must be a clothes line! you know why? Coz you just got to hang in there when times are tough...

Just got to make sure this washing doesn't get dunked in water :) Don't think the paper would hold up too well!

Hope you're all inspired this morning! and I hope you have a Fantastic Friday!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

So, while my american, UK and European friends are celebrating the arrival of their Spring, I am fearfully looking towards winter. Already I have had to wear warm clothes all week long because the african sun has been hiding it's face behind cold weather bringing clouds, mist and wind.

How nice then, for me to make a card that has reminders of warmer times on it :)

As you can read from the post title, the theme this week is Flowers in Bloom. You can enter and check out the fabby DT creations at the Challenge blog here. As you might know by now, we love to see creations you've made with AiF images, and you can even find some freebies here at the store! And if you dont use an AiF image, we'd still love to see your project :)
The DT were given this really sweet clip art set called The lady bug baby to work with. You even have a chance at winning the set if you enter this week! how awesome is that?
Here is a peek at what the set looks like:

Cute dont you think? And even if you're not feeling in a cutesy mood, you could always make a little something similar to what I created this week....

I chose not to use the lady bug baby, the lady bug or the flower with the lady bug in it. Instead, I chose the flower group and the almost cherry blossom looking stem. I printed off two copies of the group of flowers and cut out the largest flower from each. I used one of the flowers as a base and then added depth by cutting out one of the petals from the second flower and pulling the two petals on either end of the cutout together to create a smaller flower with creases. I then put this smaller flower through my cttlebug using an embossing folder. I then inked both flowers in roan and finished the layered flower off with a button threaded with Jute chord.

I used a blue cardstock for the base, and used the leftovers from this to punch two lengths with my martha stewart lace punch. You can see one of the strips in the photo above. The brown pattern used for a matt was out of my never ending scrap paper pile, as was the pretty flower scrap adhered over that.

I layered all the paper and added the cherry blossom stem underneath one of the punched strips and over the other. The entire thing was inked in roan. I then added brown flat backed pearls to the centers of the flowers for some PoP!

The sentiment is actually from one of the sets I have used for this months card kits, I decided to use it because I plan on giving this card to my lovely friend that is getting married next weekend. I cut inverted arrows into a strip of scrap cream cardstock and inked it in roan. I then stamped the sentiment in black and heat embossed.

I finished the card off with a little jute chord along the top and Bob's your uncle it was done!

Hope you all enjoyed my take on the challenge this week, I quite enjoyed making it :)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I used all the same papers throughout the set, and have linking elements like the Jute chord and the perspex embellies.
If you read yesterdays post, you will see that AM commented about having used clear perspex before, but not solid colours. Well, I just have to elaborate for you all on how I did the letters now dont I? Can't leave you hanging!
The letters I've used are in fact clear. In order to get a pattern of solid colour behind it, I traced it onto the relevent paper I had chosen. I then cut out the letter and adhered it behind the letter. It really makes it look like the letter has the pattern or colour and gives it so much dimension. Of course, there is also the option of adhering the pattern to the top of the perspex, and I would definitely go this route if the perpex wasn't clear.

The sentiment was stamped and heat embossed and raised on foam over the strips of Jute chord.

I think the card came out beuatifully and is probably one of my favourites of this particular set :) As you can see, the perpex flowers were both covered with matching pattern paper (the card front), and also left uncovered (easel stopper). Just goes to show how versatile these little treasures are!

Tune in tomorrow for another AiF challenge and our return to the card set on Friday :) Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Ok! so Card #1 of this set is ready to be debuted :) I have news though! I need to create a new set of cards because the stamp set we chose is not currently available! Oh well, just another excuse to craft hey?

I used a very whimsical colour choice for this set and I really, really like how each one turned out. The store asked me to design the cards using perspex letters that they have in stock, in order to show clients how they can be used. Funny how often we might look at something and brush it off because we dont know how to use it on a project.

I used a cream card for the base, a pink for the front matt and three of the pattern papers I chose to use throughout all the cards. Instead of ribbon (my favourite) I used an earthy chord for accents, as well as a couple of perspex flowers.

The sentiment is part of a set of four that would have been used for the kit. This particular set is all about getting well :)

Hope you enjoyed this ickle bit of inspiration! Have a Happy Tuesday :)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Hello everyone! I hope your weekend was as relaxing and eventful as mine? My husband and I went shopping for a few items for my winter wardrobe - I was seriously lacking! I'm all set now, and just in time too, because we have really miserable chilly weather here today.

Over the next few days I'm going to be showing you the cards I made for the store I design for. The only hint I'll give you is that they are all easels....

Hope you'll all have a wonderful week ahead of you! and that your Monday is Montastic :)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Ok, so I lapsed last night and didn't update my post like I said I would! But really, how can you blame me when I was asked to go for a girls night at the movies? My MIL and I were in our element watching the new movie called Water for Elephants!

I did create my card when we got back, but I really was way too tired to think about photographing it and posting it here...forgive me?

So without further ado, the card...

I used a new sheet of double sided pattern for this, I just didn't have the right colour in my scrap stash for what I was going for. I even used both sides! The DSP was used for the base and to matt the main image.
I then used scrap pieces for the 'band' going across the card and punched these with my scallop punch along the horizontal.

I used the AiF image given me for the challenge, and seeing as the theme is Party Animal I sifted through the rest of my digi's to find a beauty by Dustin Pike. I coloured him with Sharpies.

You can see I very cleverly used the AiF image as the balloon for the monkey :) I also stitched around the edge of the orange matt to make the card look a little more busy.

The sentiment is from The Angel Company, I inked it in black and then heat embossed with clear powder.

OK! there you have it :) Hope your Friday is Fantastic and that your weekend is even better!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

It's time for another challenge at AiFactory today! Alas! I have let my team mates down and not created anything...YET! Silly me forgot all my prints for the project at work so I couldn't do a darn thing last night for todays challenge. I promise though to have my goods up tonight ok?

So let me just tell you about the challenge for now :)

The theme this week is Party Animal and we want to see all your creations that feature...well...party animals!
You can enter the challenge here! We'd love for you to use an AiFactory image but it isn't compulsory to enter the challenge; if you'd like, you could find some freebies at the store. It is undegoing a bit of an overhaul though, so dont get too frustrated when you browse through the site, the owner is doing all she can to have everything up and running again!

The DT were given a set of Digital graphics to use this week and you can find it at the store. It's a smashing set and is similar to the cute owls we used a while back. They are perfect for cards, cupcake toppers, birthday decorations...the list goes on :) Here's a peak at what they look like.

Catch you all later when I upload my project! Have an awesome Thursday!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Well, I certainly wasn't feeling up to a fussy card last night so I hope you will all forgive my very CAS card!

The base of the card is a scrap from the easter basket tutorial I made last week. Love using scraps, it's so fulfilling not having to put anything back into my stash! The pattern is off the paper pad Blog Queen C sent me for my birthday. I love the paper in this pad and it pains me to tear anything out of it! I cut a piece of it to size to fit on the base with a matt and then paper pieced a few of the flowers and leaves from the remaining piece of paper. I inked everything with pink.

I then added a few beads to the centres of the flowers to look like little stamens :) feeling pretty clever right now...

Anyways, that's my 2 cents for today. Hope you all have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Today I want to take some of the spotlight off of myself and get you to read a few of the blogs I've been following the last couple of weeks.
I love seeing what others around me are doing because it is such a part of the creative process. None of us could create without it I dont think. It's almost as if other's creativity gives us our own a little boost.

Each of these lovely ladies have their own style and my eyes never cease to be amazed when seeing their projects:

Monday, April 11, 2011

Well, it's back to crafting for my friends wedding, I've been holding out as long as I could. It seems when you need to make a project that includes a lot of repitition that, that good old friend called procrastination comes to visit...

You'll remember the wedding invite I made a few months back (you can find the post here if you missed it), I made 50 of them for my friend who is getting married at the end of this month. I've also been asked to make the gift box thank you tags as well as the table numbers and seat placements.

I haven't yet started on the latter two because we still need to finalise the design element, but I have started on the tags. We've decided to make them out of the different pattern papers we used for the invites and I think they are going to look smashing. I have a cute little bride and groom stamp from stampendous and I stamped this onto a cream cardstock before punching it out with a circle punch. The ribbon I've used for the purposes of todays post isn't the ribbon we'll eventually be using, but it will do for my little show and tell.

The tag I've designed looks like this, the sentiment on the back will be the regular thank you to the guest for sharing the day with the couple. I will print this off and adhere later once all the tags are complete.

The box looks like this and I'll tie the ribbon the bride has chosen in exactly the same way. We have 120 of these to put together...

Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead of you and a simply smashing Monday!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Hi Everybody! Seeing as I printed more than one of the eggheads (see yesterday's post), I couldn't just let them lie in my scrap box and go to waste....

So I used the scrap blue cardstock from the basket and made a matching card!

I layered the egghead in the same way as the egghead on the basket and placed it flush against the card.

I used single rubber stamp letters to spell out the words Happy Easter and stamped them above and below the egghead image. I then covered them in embossing powder and heated with my heat gun to set. I thought it looked a bit plain so I added a red stitched ribbon to match along the bottom edge.

Doesn't it just match the easter basket perfectly? I thought so too :)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Hello everyone! We have another challenge over at AiFactory this week and it involves an Easter theme! Also, the DT are showcasing a new release!

The Release set is called Merry Little Egg Heads and can be found at the store here. The DT created AMAZING projects this week so be sure to check them out over at the Challenge Blog :) Once you've tantalized your craft buds with their projects why dont you join in the fun and create a morsel for us to view? You dont have to use an AiFactory image to enter, but you could find a few freebies here.

As always, here is a sneak at what the digi set looks like:

When I first saw the set I wasn't sure what I wanted to make. A card? A covered book? A bookmark? I just didnt know! And then I saw this amazing tutorial over at Beccy's Place. Beccy has such an amazing blog filled with tutorials and freebies. You really should take the time to page through a couple of pages of her work .

So, the tutorial I saw was for a woven basket. Sounds difficult but it really isn't. It took a while, yes, but once I got into the rythm of things it ran quite smoothly...

I followed the tut to a T, so you can see how I did it at Beccy's Blog (See link above). I unfortunately couldn't use any scrap paper as the design calls for a whole 12x12 sheet. No worries though :) I inked all necessary edges with black ink and added the Black brads to every second layer of the weave for some PoP!

On to the Digi! I originally decided I was going to try and put about four of the eggheads around the basket, but after seeing only the one adhered I decided against it. They were actually coloured on my PC in the paint program and then resized for printing in Micosoft Word. I thought I was quite clever :)

I printed off three of this little guy in order to layer him up a bit. I layered the flowers, the jacket and the bow tie onto foam squares.

To add yet more PoP! I twisted a piece of blue satin ribbon around the handle of the basket and ended it in a bow near the egg heads...head! You can see a little bit of detailing concerning the plait work on the handle, I really loved that part of the crafting, took me back to days when my sisters and I would plait each others hair. Me being smart and trying to french plait! hahahaha!

A close up of the digi:

Well, that's it for today folks. I had a LOT of fun crafting this and I can't wait to see what you come up with for the challenge :) I even challenge you to try making the basket too!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

As mentioned yesterday, the highlight of last week was my friends kitchen tea (or Bridal Shower). It was a breakfast affair at a restaurant with most of her female family and friends. She was extremely blessed with many quality gifts that will fill her kitchen beyond even what she might have expected.

Her Maid of Honour and Bridesmaid decorated the table beatifully with a pink and green theme, and those are the colours I chose for the LO. I even managed to hoard a few of the elements that were on the table and used them on the LO too!

Here's a pic of the table:

You can't see it from the photo, but each wine glass had a feather in it that was either pink or green. I decided these would be perfect on the page, flanking the serviette as the feature embellishment.

I then placed a few layered flowers around it and stuck pink and silver gem stones in the centres. On the actual serviette I placed the little thank you note that my MIL (her mom's best friend) made on her behalf for everyone that attended.

I used a very large scrap piece for the focal pattern and adhered it to a green cardstock base. I then adhered another striped pattern to the bottom end of the page for more depth. The photograph of my friend on her french maids outfit was matted on yet another pattern piece and adhered next to the serviette embellie.

As usual, the title labels the week....I used stickers to spell the wek out and placed them on pieces of green cardstock.

All edges on the LO were inked in roan and the final product looks like this...

Phew! what a week! I might just have to document this weeks LO as the one I had to catch up! hahaha!

Hope you all have a Wonderful Wednesday, and dont forget to check in tomorrow for the new AiFactory challenge :)

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

I promised I would catch up didn't I? Week 12 was the week my hubster and I started swimming at the gym, what fun it's turned out to be so far too :)

As for most of the pages so far, the dominating title is the number of the week, I got the letters from a die cut sheet in the making memories pack I got for my birthday.

I found this really neat rub on set with a whole lot of swimming phrases on it in my stash. I bought it a while back for layouts concerning my swimming achievements when I was younger. Guess it's an excuse to buy another one now :) I used a few of the phrases on the page, on my journal sheet and as an added embellishment.

Splish Splash!

Look! No armbands!

The Laugh, Play, Swim rub on was stamped onto a piece of cream cardstock, then punched out with a circle punch. I coloured the edge in blue with a sharpie and then stitched around it with the same pen.

I managed to use scraps again! though the edging trims came from the making memories kit. I'm not sorry I dipped into that stash though as I didn't have anything else in my scrap stash that would have looked as good!

There is one element still missing from the page however, and that's a photo of me and my hubster in our swimming gear. I will have to add this when we eventually remember to take one! I'll then place the photo on the ready made matt I've put together to the right of the journal.

That's it for today, we're almost caught up again! Tomorrow's page will have to do with my friends Bridal shower I attended on Saturday....lots of feathers will be coming your way :)